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Rabbi Arthur Segal’s love of people, humanity, and Judaism has him
sharing with others “The Wisdom of the Ages” that has been passed on to
him. His writings for modern Jews offer Spiritual, Ethical, and
eco-Judaic lessons in plain English and with relevance to contemporary
lifestyles. He is the author of countless articles, editorials,
letters, and blog
posts, and he has recently published two books:

ALL ENTRIES ARE (C) AND PUBLISHED BY RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL, INC, AND NOT BY ANY INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEE OF SAID CORPORATION. THIS APPLIES TO 3 OTHER BLOGS (CHUMASH, ECO, SPIRITUALITY) AND WEB SITES PUBLISHED BY SAID CORPORATION.

Signed by 120 Rabbis, including my ownRabbi, Andrea London of Beth Emet Synagoguein Evanston, IL, the statement opposesany actions that would undermine ongoing negotiations,emphasizes the importance ofpeaceful conflict resolution, and welcomes thepossibility of negotiations with Iran.

As we continue to work to ensure that Irandoes not develop nuclear weapons, I believethat the Rabbinic Statement offers an importantperspective.

As Rabbis, Cantors, and other Clergy servingthe American Jewish community, we aredeeply committed, as Jewish traditionteaches—to the shalom—peace, social justice, functioningdemocratic process, and ecologicalsanity—of the country where we live—all ofwhich would be damaged by still another unnecessarywar; to the shalom, peace and security, of theState of Israel, to its democratic character,and to its special relationship with the Jewishpeople; to unequivocal action by all the Arab-majorityand Muslim-majority states to makepeace with Israel, and to Israel's unequivocalaction to make peace with all its neighbors,including an emergent Palestine; to our respect and our prayers for salaam, peace and justice, among our cousins in theAbrahamic tradition, Arab and Muslim civilizations;to the peace and prosperity of all the ''70nations'' of the world;and to the healing of our wounded planet.

We especially welcome the new attitudestoward the Jewish people and toward the nuclearissue set forth by the new President ofIran, and his assertion that Iran will neverhold nuclear weapons. We also recall thefatwa and repeated assertions by Grand AyatollahKhamenei that for Iran to possess nuclearweapons would violate Islam.

We urge the U.S. and Iran to move swiftlyto agree on a step-by-step process of reducingand ultimately ending sanctions againstIran in accord with steps by Iran to make itsnuclear research transparent and to allowverification that its research is directedwholly toward civilian uses of nuclear energy.

We believe that such a step-by-stepprocess is the best way to guarantee thatboth parties are fulfilling their commitments.

We urge Iran to make clear its full acceptanceof Israel as a legitimate state in thefabric of international relations, protectedlike all other states from aggression and attack.

We urge the Government of Israel to welcomesteps by Iran to make clear andverifiable its commitment to use nuclear energyand research for peaceful purposes only,not for pursuit of nuclear weaponry, andwhile this process is under way, we urgeIsrael to end hostile acts and statements towardIran.

We urge the peoples of the United States,Iran, and Israel to reject and oppose allstatements and actions from whateversource that undermine the swift and thoroughachievement of agreements to ensurethe civilian nature of Iran's nuclear programand to end sanctions against Iran.

We urge the American people to recognizeand do teshuvah (''turning'' or ''repentance'')for the ethical errors of our own governmenttoward Iran particularly—the U.S. Government'sintervention in 1953 to overthrow thedemocratically elected reform government ofIran; U.S. actions to support the tyrannicalregime of the Shah until the Iranian peopleoverthrew it in 1979; and U.S. support forIraq's wars of aggression against Iran in the1980s, including U.S. support for SaddamHussein's use of chemical weapons to kill100,000 Iranians.

We urge the Iranian people to do teshuvahfor their government's demonization of theUnited States and Israel, for its holding U.S.diplomats hostage for more than a year in1979–1980, and for the support it seems tohave covertly given for attacks on Israelicitizens.

We believe that this combination of governmentalacts and public rethinking and refeelingcan move American society, the entireMiddle East, and the world toward theshalom that Judaism yearns for.